Dedicated Leaders
In Chicago, the success of Genesys Works is driven by a dedicated board and committed staff.
Genesys Works - Chicago's Team:
Board of Directors
Donald Laackman - President, Harold Washington College (Chairman)
Donald Laackman is the President of Harold Washington College, one of City Colleges of Chicago. Harold Washington educates over 8,000 students a year in credit programs. Mr. Laackman was appointed in February, 2011. Previously, he served as a Principal at Civic Consulting Alliance, where he managed Civic Consulting's Workforce and Education program areas. He has led several workforce system change initiatives, including the creation of a new workforce board overseeing $360 millions in workforce funding in Chicago, a strategy for improving Career and Technical Education for 25,000 Chicago Public School high school students, and the creation of several advisory councils comprised of business, civic, and community leaders to advise CCC on its Reinvention Initiative.
Mr. Laackman served as a Managing Director at Accenture, one of the world's leading consulting, technology, and outsourcing firms. Over a twenty-three year career at Accenture he led strategic, change, and information technology solution initiatives while providing client management, professional development, business unit management, profit and loss delivery, contract negotiations, and sales.
Rafael Alvarez - Founder and CEO, Genesys Works (Secretary)
Rafael Alvarez, Founder and CEO, started Genesys Works in 2002. Rafael is now overseeing the national organization and is personally involved in replicating the model throughout the country. For his work as a leading social entrepreneur, Rafael was inducted into the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship in 2006.
Prior to starting Genesys Works, Rafael worked 11 years for Compaq Computer Corporation (now HP) in diverse management roles including engineering program management, corporate strategy and market intelligence.
Rafael is an engaging public speaker who has motivated audiences around the country in diverse topics such as social entrepreneurship, nonprofit earned income models, effect of minority spending programs, changing organizational behaviors and others. Rafael obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Houston.
Aarti Dhupelia - Director, Career and Technical Education at Chicago Public Schools
Aarti Dhupelia currently serves as the Director of Career and Technical Education for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), where she works to enhance the college and career preparation of 20,000 students across 60 high schools. Dhupelia leads efforts to provide industry-specific training in areas such as healthcare, IT, construction, business, and culinary arts. Prior to joining CPS, she served as a Manager at strategy consultancy Marakon Associates, where her projects focused on identifying revenue growth and cost management opportunities for clients in a variety of industries, including aerospace, industrials and healthcare. Dhupelia has also dedicated time to working with Citizen Schools, an after-school program in Boston, and has served on the Associate Boards of the Indo-American Center of Chicago and Chicago International Charter Schools. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. Dhupelia is also a graduate of the Broad Residency in Urban Education, a management development program that trains emerging leaders for senior management positions in public education.
Carter Emerson - Of Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis
Mr. Emerson concentrates his practice in the area of complex international and domestic transactions, including mergers, leveraged buyouts and public and private offerings, and securities and corporate governance advice, including in connection with restructurings.
Described as "responsive, practical and extraordinarily knowledgeable" and a practitioner with "the best combination of public and private expertise" who "is always mindful of the issues and willing to compromise where necessary," Mr. Emerson has been selected as one of the World's Leading Lawyers in Corporate/M&A by Chambers Global since 2004. The International Who's Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers names Mr. Emerson as one of the global leaders in the field of corporate governance law. He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America as an outstanding practitioner in corporate, mergers and acquisitions and securities laws matters and in the The Legal 500 U.S. Mr. Emerson recently co-authored the article, What Every Compensation Committee Member Should Know About Corporate Governance Reforms.
Dennis Garcia - Corporate Counsel, Microsoft
Dennis C. Garcia is a Senior Attorney with Microsoft's Legal & Corporate Affairs Group in Chicago and manages the provision of legal support to Microsoft's U.S. Central Region Enterprise Sector. Prior to joining Microsoft in December of 2002, Dennis worked as an attorney for Accenture in Chicago for nearly five years. Dennis began his legal career as an attorney for IBM and worked for over five years at various IBM locations in Chicago, Boulder, Colorado and Norwalk, Connecticut.
A 1989 graduate of Binghamton University (formerly known as SUNY-Binghamton), Dennis received his B.A. in Political Science. In 1992 Dennis received his law degree from Columbia Law School and is a member of the New York, Connecticut and Illinois state bars.
Dennis was born in the Bronx, New York and currently lives in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago with his wife Simona and son Sebastian.
Terry Howerton - Chairman, Illinois Technology Association
A lifelong entrepreneur, Terry started his first successful business at the age of 15. He has launched and built a series of successful ventures, all high-tech based or heavily leveraging technology. His companies have included consumer catalog businesses, book, magazine and web portal ventures, ISP's and hosting companies, software products and consulting firms.
This entrepreneurial drive led to the creation of FastRoot in 2001. As CEO, Terry has steadily built the FastRoot into a nationally recognized operations management company for on-demand businesses.
Terry passionately represents a new generation of tech entrepreneurs who are launching and building successful businesses in Chicago. As founding Chairman of the Illinois Technology Association (ITA), Terry champions the interests of more than 400 local companies. He united dozens of local leaders to launch the ITA, based on a long-term mission that places the group among the nation's most influential technology associations. Terry also serves on the boards of area start-ups, emerging companies and non-profits.
Paul Maranville - Partner, Lantern Partners
Paul Maranville is a Partner at Lantern Partners, a retained executive search firm that recruits outstanding talent for professional services firms and PE/VC portfolio companies, as well as technology and technology-enabled services businesses. Paul is responsible for client development, client management and search execution in the firm's Professional Services, Technology, and Sustainability practices. His search work focuses on senior-level searches for executives and functional heads within Strategy, Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Human Resources, in addition to numerous executive-level consulting roles.
Prior to executive search, Paul served as the Americas Director of Technology Recruiting for Deloitte Consulting, and held a lead recruiting role for MCI/Systemhouse.
Paul has an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign. He is an avid archer and sporting clays enthusiast. Paul lives with his wife and three boys on a farm west of Chicago, and he is always looking for a good excuse to be in the wilderness.
Tom Meyers - Head of Distribution, Legal and General Investment Management (Treasurer)
Tom is a Senior Client Portfolio Manager and Head of Distribution for Legal & General Investment Management America. Tom's focus is LGIMA's sales, marketing, consulting relations and client service efforts.
Tom has 26 years of experience in the asset management industry. Tom spent his first 10 years in research, trading and portfolio management and then led various distribution functions at Seix Advisors, Phoenix Investment Partners and Conseco Capital Management. Tom began his career at Capital Guardian Trust. Tom has a BA from Brown University
Tom is married to Suzanne Lynch. They have 4 children and live in the Ravenswood neighborhood.
In addition to Genesys, Tom is actively involved as an Area Chair for the Brown Alumni and has previously served the Boards of Easter Seals/Crossroads, Central Indiana Community Foundation, The Orchard School, and Joy's House.
Tom Nolan - Partner, Accenture
Tom is a Senior Executive with Accenture, focusing on consulting and outsourcing services for clients within the Energy/Utilities industries. Tom is a graduate of the University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign. Besides Genesys Works, Tom is active on boards and in other roles for the following organizations: Chicago Children's Theater, Ball State University - Center for Information & Communication Sciences, Kappa Sigma Alumni Club, and St. Michael School. Tom resides in Orland Park, IL along with his wife (Patty) and three children (Josh, Maggie, and Kate).
Eric Patton - Executive Director, Genesys Works Chicago
Eric Patton is the Executive Director of Genesys Works - Chicago. At Genesys Works, Eric has been responsible for the startup and operation of the Chicago office. Prior to joining Genesys Works, Eric was a partner at Accenture, a global management consulting firm, where he spent over 20 years specializing in the financial services practice and was one of the lead partners in the Chicago office. At Accenture, Eric led dozens of technology and strategy projects, and was responsible for account development for numerous financial services clients.
Eric received a BA in Economics and an MBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the former president of the board for DuPage Habitat for Humanity. He also serves on the boards of the New 200 Foundation (a local education foundation) and the Wheaton Park District Baseball/Softball program.
Eric lives with his wife Karen and their two children in Wheaton, Illinois
Jeff Warren - CIO, Equity Office Properties
Jeff Warren is the Chief Information Officer for Equity Office Properties where he oversees all data, technology, and telephony operations. Equity Office is one of the nation's largest owners of commercial office buildings owning nearly 60 million square feet of office space. Prior to this, he was a Senior Executive at Accenture, a global management consulting firm, where he spent nearly 14 years working in the Insurance and Financial Services industries. At Accenture, he was responsible for the design and implementation of large-scale systems development and process re-engineering.
Mr. Warren earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Indiana University.
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